An ATS survivor pool, short for against the spread, changes what "winning" means each week. Instead of picking a team to win the game outright, you pick a team to cover the point spread. You'll also see this called a margin pool, since it's really a bet on the margin of victory rather than the outcome itself.
How It Works
In a standard survivor pool, your pick just needs to win. In an ATS pool, your pick needs to beat the spread. If you take a team favored by 7.5 points, they need to win by 8 or more for your entry to survive. If you take an underdog getting 7.5, they can lose by up to 7 and you still cover.
The spread you're picking against locks in every Wednesday at 12:00 PM ET. Whatever the line is at that moment is what your pick gets graded against, so a late swing in either direction after that point won't change your result.
Why Commissioners Run It
The problem with a standard survivor pool is that heavy favorites are basically automatic picks early in the season, which means the format doesn't really start testing anyone until the schedule thins out the obvious choices. An ATS pool removes that safety net immediately. Even a great team can miss covering a big spread while still winning the actual game, so there's no "free week" the way there is with straight-up picks. Every week takes more thought, and that tends to keep the pool tighter and more competitive for longer.
The Rules, Plain and Simple
- Every week: pick a team to cover the spread, not just win outright.
- Lines lock: every Wednesday at 12:00 PM ET, and picks are graded against that number regardless of any later movement.
- If your team covers: you survive.
- If your team doesn't cover: you're eliminated.
- Pushes: if a game lands exactly on the number, the commissioner decides whether that counts as a survive or an eliminate. Half-point spreads can't push, since there's no way to land exactly on a half point.
What Counts as a Push
A push happens when the final result lands exactly on the spread. If a team is favored by 3 and wins by exactly 3, that's a push, neither a cover nor a miss. It only happens on whole-number spreads. A team favored by 3.5 can't push, since the final score can't land on a half point.
Whether a push keeps your entry alive or ends it depends on how the commissioner has that setting configured, it isn't a fixed rule across every pool.
Stacking It With Other Settings
Against the Spread isn't limited to a standalone pool. It's built to combine with the pool's other rules.
Turn on loser pool alongside it, and the pick flips one more time: instead of picking a team to cover, you're picking a team you think won't cover. Get that right and you survive, get it wrong and you're out. It's the same margin-based grading, just aimed at missing the spread instead of beating it.
It also works alongside second chance. If loser pool and ATS are both on and your team fails to miss the spread, in other words your pick actually covers, that first slip drops you into the runner-up bracket instead of ending your season outright, the same way second chance works with the pool's other settings.
How to Enable It on Sunday Survivor
Against the Spread is a toggle in your pool settings, alongside loser pool and second chance. Turn it on before your first pick deadline, set how you want pushes handled, and the platform grades every pick against the locked line automatically.
Set up your pool at sundaysurvivor.com →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an ATS survivor pool?
A survivor pool where your pick needs to cover the point spread, not just win the game. It's also called a margin pool.
What's the difference between a margin pool and a standard survivor pool?
Standard survivor pools only require your pick to win outright, which makes heavy favorites nearly automatic early on. Margin pools require your pick to cover the spread, so even a strong team can fail to cover while still winning the game.
What happens if my pick pushes in an ATS pool?
A push means the result landed exactly on the spread. Whether that keeps your entry alive or eliminates it depends on how the pool's commissioner has that setting configured.
When do the lines lock in an ATS survivor pool?
On Sunday Survivor, spreads lock every Wednesday at 12:00 PM ET. That's the number your pick is graded against, no matter how the line moves afterward.
Can I combine ATS with loser pool?
Yes. With both enabled, you pick a team you think won't cover the spread instead of one you think will. Get that right and you survive.
Curious about other survivor pool formats? Check out our guides on loser pools, second chance brackets, and the biggest mistakes people make. Or see what happens when you stack every format together in our extreme survivor pool guide.